Prediction Regarding Data Breach Detection – Soon to be a Regulatory Requirement

In a post last week titled “Proposed EU Data Protection Fines Push the Lack of Breach Detection Capabilities into the Light“, I noted that the proposed European Union data protection rules would impose fines against organizations who did not report data breaches in a timely manner.  After that post I came across a story (“Companies worry about SEC’s advice to disclose cyberthreats“) in the San Jose Mercury News that noted that the SEC is continuing to amp up the pressure on companies to disclose breaches in their public disclosures.

I am not usually in the prediction business, but I noted in a blog post on February 25, 2010 titled “Intel Notes Attack on 10K – Are We Heading to Mandated Disclosure of Cyber Attacks?” that the SEC might soon mandate disclosure of breaches.  Given the increasingly digital economy, it would make sense that investors would consider breaches material information.

I am old enough to have seen similar patterns like this through the years.  Guidance by the SEC is one very public data breach away from being regulation, and those organizations that read the tealeaves and are prepared have a distinct advantage over those who ignore the signs and signal and are forced to play catch-up.

So I will break from form and make a prediction: by the New Year, we will either have or will be on the way to having multiple regulatory provisions that will require prompt (24 hour) notification of breaches.  Organizations can scramble then, or they can start looking at technologies (like Triumfant) that are focused on detecting the attacks that evade their protection software (shields).  Given that knowing when (again, the IF ship has sailed) you have been breached is critical information that every organization should want and have anyway, this is not the worst initiative ever catalyzed by regulatory mandate.

Why not beat the rush?